Of White Chains and Brown Briefcases
by Harmony's Wind
Summary: Koon and Baam journey up the tower to find the people they lost, but have an even stronger desire to find out what they are missing. A story about Koon and Baam climbing the tower in the canon verse with some twists, the main one being they fall in love. Follow these two on a journey through life, death, love, betrayal, friendship and desire, and see what waits for them at the top.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Tower of God or any of its concepts, characters, or general awesomeness.

Author's Note: This will be a Koon x Baam fic, and will focus a lot on their relationship. So I just wanted to say if you have a problem with this, I told you so. Just to let you know there will be action in this fic as well. It will be canon, but I'm going to add as many awesome twists as possible. I hope you like my story!

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Prologue

Baam was alone; completely and utterly alone in a dreary world without a shred of the light of day, or hope. He had been chained since he was born, chained down by shackles the purest white on his neck, ankles, and wrists. No matter what he tried they never came off. His chains stretched for an eternity, and that was all he knew. He had tried to follow them once and no matter how far he had come there was no end in sight. How he got there, where he was, and why, he didn't know. All he knew was his name, and that the emptiness in his heart never went away, even after he met Rachel. He was grateful for what she had taught him, and that someone had stepped into his world. He cared about her nonetheless, even if that whole was still there, and when she passed through the gates to the tower to achieve her dream he was determined to follow. But not just to find her, he had his own reasons. The chasm in his heart was so deep that he feared it would swallow him into its murky depths, and his chains refused to let him be free. He needed to find it. Something that made his heart whole and something that could set him free. So with strong resolve he pushed the doors open and began his journey where he would face life, death, betrayal, friendship, and fall deeply in love in the process.

Koon was alone. All alone in a world where only the rich, and the powerful mattered. Where he was cast aside, and taught the cut-throat ways of the Koon family. All the politics and dirty business weighed on him heavily until he met Maria. She was a unique existence to him. She was gentle and kind and Koon knew she deserved the best. So he sent her to the top to give her everything. After she left all that remained was the lingering loneliness, and the realization that he was truly alone. When he was 17 he raided his father's vault and journeyed to the doors of the tower. The tower had chosen him as a regular, and he wouldn't waste it. He wanted to see Maria, but that wasn't the main reason why he wanted to climb the tower. He had the feeling something precious was in the tower, and that it was something that would change his whole world. What that was, he didn't know, but he knew that it would be a tough journey. People would live, and people would die, others would betray him, others would trust him, but he knew with certainty that no one would want to fall in love with him. Fortunately, even though he didn't know it, someone would fall in love with him, and would forever change him.

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Author's Note: Hope you guys liked it! The next chapter is going to be a lot longer so in the meantime please follow, favorite, and review. Everything is much appreciated.


	2. Koon and Baam

Disclaimer: I do not own Tower of God or any of its characters,concepts, or ideas.

Author's Note: Hey everyone out there thank you for clicking on this story! I know this story is really new, but I hope you guys will give me any feedback you have, and I hope you guys enjoy reading! Just to let you know this chapter cuts off in a kind of weird spot so don't worry I'll have more coming soon. Now on with the story!

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The First Test

After Headon's test Baam woke up with a start. _Where am I? _Then everything came flooding back to him. He had been trying to complete the test when he landed here. He looked around for any sign of life only to find nothing but the whistle of the wind.

"Attention Regulars! Welcome to the Floor of Test! This place is where you will be tested to see if you are worthy to climb the tower."

_A test? Does that mean I can't climb the tower yet?_ He looked around and found that despite Yuri's efforts on the first floor his shackles and endless chains still remained. He felt a little disappointed that she wasn't able to help him; he really wanted to be able to move without them weighing him down. He sighed and decided to tune back in to what the announcer on the mic was saying.

"The rules of the test are simple, all you have to do is narrow down the 400 regulars here to 200 by any means possible! The test will end when the number of participants reaches 200. Starting now!"

As those words left the announcers mouth his senses were tingling. It was time to use the gift Yuri had given him. "Activate Invisibility." His chains began to disappear only leaving the familiar weight of the shackles behind. He was just barely able to dodge when someone came out of the brush trying to kill him. The regular swung at him again, and he dodged as fast as he could and began to run quickly in the opposite direction of his assailant. When he realized he wasn't being followed he looked back only to find the guy following him had been skewered by a ton of arrows. On high alert he looked up to see a woman ready to shoot him, but was instead killed herself.

He ran as far away as he could, the stench of blood wafting through the air instead of the clean wind that had been there before. He could feel the pounding of his heart in his chest. It set him on edge, so when he came across a big, fat monster he had finally prepared himself for what he had to do. _To get to top, to reach the next floor I must fight! _So with Black March in hand he prepared himself to fight.

Koon was so bored. The red monster in front of him was spewing nonsense about how we had to kill each other to pass the test. He refused to accept it, because no matter what anyone said he would play by his own rules. That was something he was absolutely certain of.

After he had dealt with this unwelcome attack on his life he continued on his way with one thought in the forefront of his mind, _is there anyone here worthy to climb the tower with me?_

Baam was readying to attack the monster in from of him when a voice broke the tension.

"What do you think you are going to do with that stiff stance?"

Baam turned to see a young stranger, brown briefcase in hand, with bluish-white hair and striking deep blue eyes. He was positively baffled. _Who in the world?_

"And also, the poly-eyed race is really mild so they don't attack people, even if you do this-"he pinched the giant.

"Phew thank goodness you stopped me, I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't showed up."

Koon eyed him, "Don't mention it, but I'm surprised that you don't know about them. They can be seen anywhere in the tower, where did you come from?"

Baam gulped. This didn't seem like the right time to tell someone that he was an irregular, or that he didn't even know where he came from to begin with.

"Um, well… I uh-"

Koon smiled, _how honest. _"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to you know. As a matter of fact you could've just lied if you didn't want to tell me."

Baam shook his head and look Koon square in the eye, "Lying is just taking the easy way out of a situation. I'm not really fond of it."

Koon was a bit caught off guard. Not just by his sudden intensity, but by the enchanting look in his golden eyes. Koon forced himself to look away and began to stand.

"Well then I'll see you later… if we both survive." Koon waved.

"Yeah, I wish you good luck!" Baam attempted a little wave.

"Hey black-haired guy did you happen to bring along a pet?"

"Pet?"

That was when Baam noticed the huge crocodile right in front of Koon. Baam almost had a conniption at how relaxed this blue-eyed stranger was in the face of danger.

"I'm not a crocodile my name is Rak Wraithraiser and I'm here to hunt that black turtle!"

Baam pointed to himself, "Me! Why?!"

Rak snorted, "Why? Isn't it obvious? I want to fight you and your weapons."

Koon paused and looked at the fragile stranger. _Weapons? He only has the one in his hand._

Koon began walking away, "Well whatever, it isn't my business. Do what you want."

"Hmph about time." Rak answered.

Koon continued to walk away,_ I wonder why he's so interested in the black-haired boy, he doesn't seem like anything special. In fact, he seems fragile, like if you don't good care him he'll begin to fall apart._

He slid a hand down his face, _ah now can't help but feel I have to protect him._

He got a running start and hit the crocodile hard with his briefcase sending him falling over, grabbed the boy's hand and began to run. All Baam could do was follow his lead. Baam glanced at the mysterious stranger, wondering why he had felt the need to save him. He also wondered why his smaller hand felt so warm, and secure with this man holding it. Even when Rachel had held his hand it never felt like this.

They only stopped when they had found a good place to hide behind. They could still hear the crocodile yelling at them nearby.

Koon glanced at the crocodile before focusing back on this odd boy he felt he just had to help out. "Let's rest for now."

Baam nodded, "Sure."

Koon sat down, "By the way why did that croc want to fight you so badly anyways?"

Baam was surprised by his question. _Telling him a bit about the Black March is one thing, but should I tell him about my chains?_ Baam shook his head. No, he couldn't tell him. He would just think of him as a burden and leave him behind. He was afraid his heart wouldn't be able to take it if he was abandoned by this stranger.

"Um, well he said he wanted to fight with my weapons."

"Weapons? But don't you only have the one?" Koon looked down at the weapon and saw the inscription. Realization slowly dawned on him. He roughly grabbed Baam's hand, putting enough pressure to cause a bruise.

"You," he said in a low voice, "where did you get that weapon?"

Baam's mind went blank with the sudden intensity coming from the man next to him, and the painful, harsh grip on his hand.

Koon heard him mumble something in response. "What was that?"

Baam spoke a little louder, "Hurts."

Koon looked down only to realize how hard he was gripping the boy's hand. He immediately apologized and took his hand away. When he looked back into his eyes he felt a little guilty for what he had done. That alone was a rare feeling for him, he really couldn't figure out why he felt even a little bad about what he had done. He decided not to deal with it for the time being, there was some questions that he needed to have answered.

Baam slowly withdrew his hand and began to rub it soothingly, "If you really must know a woman named Yuri let me borrow this from her, I still have to give it back to her."

Koon almost started again, but managed to calm himself down. _Yuri Zahard lent him the Black March? Who on earth is this ma- I mean boy? _Koon just couldn't bring himself to call this exotic person a man. It just didn't suit his mannerisms.

"I see." Koon responded.

Koon glanced at Baam, and suddenly remembered the crocodile had said _weapons_. "By the way what's your other weapon? I don't see it on you."

Baam froze. He didn't want to answer that question.

Koon seemed to notice this and sighed, "Fine, don't tell me."

"I-it's just that…"

Koon studied him. _I just don't get this guy, how did he even manage to become a regular? He looks too ordinary, yet the princess lent him the Black March. Maybe it isn't that he's the most ordinary, but the most unusual. This guy could be someone worth climbing the tower with, I better get him now._

Koon put out his hand, "My name is Koon Aguero Agnis, and yours is?"

If Baam was expecting anything it definitely wasn't an introduction. He hesitantly reached out his hand, thinking back on what had happened before, and met Koon halfway. "25th Baam."

Koon made sure to be very gentle when the boy gave him his hand. "The 25th Night? What an interesting name."

"Alright Baam, I know you may not be able to trust me because of the test right now, but I don't care about the rules anymore. I want to climb the tower with you, what do you say?" Koon smiled brightly.

Baam was shocked, and strangely happy. Then the reality of the situation crashed down on him, and before he knew it there were tears crawling slowly down his face like dew sliding down a blade of grass.

Koon noticed the sudden change in Baam's behavior and honestly didn't know what to expect when he saw the tears on his face.

Koon was starting to feel concerned, "Hey why are you crying?"

Baam looked up with blurry eyes, "I'm sorry, I don't think I can go with you."

Koon started to feel a trace of annoyance from what he thought was Baam's lack of confidence. He was very, very wrong. "Why not? Do you think you're not good enough to climb with me?"

Baam shook his head slightly, "That's not it it's just that I know I'll weigh you down, I don't want to burden you. I don't have a right to burden anyone."

"What are you talking about? You're not a burden I know you aren't. I can tell when someone is going to be a burden, and I definitely wouldn't take you along if I thought you were. "

"Trust me it's better this way." When Koon saw that look in his eyes he immediately hated it. His brilliant gold eyes were glazed, and there was so much sadness swimming in them. But Koon could tell that the reason he felt that way was because he really wanted to join him, and just couldn't say yes.

"Listen Baam," he started gently, "I'm not sure why you feel this way, but I want you to be with me, even if I have to take you by force."

Koon brought his hand up and began to brush away Baam's oncoming tears.

It took everything Baam had to not burst into more tears. Koon was being so nice to him and he just didn't know how to handle it. But, if Koon really wanted to climb the tower with him he would do it. He gingerly reached his shackled hand up to meet Koon's on his face. He grasped it lightly and looked at Koon and said in a melancholy voice, "Don't regret it."

Koon smiled at him, "I won't."

Baam wiped his tears away and straightened, face even more serious than before, "If you're going to climb with me I need to show you something."

Koon automatically nodded, waiting to see what Baam wanted to show him.

Baam took a shaky breath and made a hand sign, "Invisibility release."

With Baam's words the white shackles adorning his body reappeared, and the chains holding him down could be seen stretching as far as the eye could see.

He didn't dare look Koon in the eye, "This is my weapon, the chains can't be broken, and there is no end to them, they stretch on forever."

Baam closed his eyes, "This is why I didn't want to travel with you." He whispered.

Koon was in awe. _Chains that stretch on forever? Is that even possible?_ Koon tried to make eye contact with Baam only to find his eyes closed. So this was the reason he had been so against coming with him? Now Koon felt rather stupid for thinking it was a lack of self-confidence. It turned out that Baam was worried about becoming a literal burden.

Without warning Koon began to laugh. Baam looked up in surprise, and Koon took that moment to tackle him to the ground.

"You're so silly Baam."

"Huh?"

Koon moved in so their foreheads were barely touching, "You worry too much. If this is your great "burden" on me I think I can handle it."

That was the first time Koon saw Baam smile. It was filled with such joy, and relief that Koon almost had to look away because of the boy's brilliance. Looking at him like this Koon decided that he really wouldn't regret his decision.

"Thank you. You've made me really happy." At this point Koon was completely entranced by the boy underneath him, and how brilliantly he shined.

Baam was equally entranced by Koon. This man was special, Baam could feel it. Koon was already setting him free. _I think I can finally be free if I stay by his side._ Koon's majestic eyes held his for what seemed like an eternity.

The spell was broken by the familiar static of the microphone, and with that they came tumbling back to reality.

Koon blinked realizing he was still hovering, and practically sprang in the opposite direction. Surprised by Koon's sudden movement Baam sprung back as well.

"Sorry." Koon mumbled.

Baam tilted his head slightly, "For what?"

Koon just stared at him, "Nothing. Nothing at all."

Baam glanced around, "Is the test over?"

Koon looked at his pocket, "It looks like it, but I think there's a second test."

"Congratulations for passing the first round! Now that we have narrowed it down to 200 contestants any combat from this point on will be cause for immediate disqualification. The next portion of this test requires you to find a partner, and find yourselves a 3rd teammate. Please note that whoever your teammates are will also remain your teammates for the rest of your time on this floor. You have 5 minutes to be able to find a 3rd teammate and remain in physical contact with them until the test is over. If you fail you will be disqualified. You are allowed to use a minimal amount of force to trap, capture, or apprehend your target. The test starts now!


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